The Indiana Pacers played with the desperation and aggression that was missing in game five and now they’ve earned one final chance to win a game at Madison Square Garden and advance to the conference finals.
After a brutal film session that highlighted how poor the team’s effort had truly been, the Pacers battled back with contributions across the rotation to tie series at 3-3.
“We deserved every bit of it,” T.J. McConnell said of criticisms toward the team from coaches as they watched film from Game 5. “After watching the film, it was kind of disgusting to see. You thought it was bad but when you re-watch it, it’s even worse.”
After being man-handled and outworked on the glass to an embarrassing degree, the Pacers won the rebounding battle for the third time in the series (all wins).
“We’ve done a good job of responding all year,” Aaron Nesmith said. “Every time we show up and don’t play the way we think we’re capable of, we do a good job of showing people who we are.”
The key now is doing it two games in a row and in the most challenging of circumstances that this young playoff team has faced. Game 7 on the road in an arena that long ago featured a pair of Game 7s against these two teams in back-to-back years.
“We know the storied history of this rivalry between these two franchises, and now we’re adding another chapter to that,” Tyrese Haliburton said. “I think we’re all excited to go. There’s going to be a lot of energy in the building from them and from us. I think just weathering our emotions as much as we can, don’t’ get too high and don’t get too low. It’s gonna be a game of runs … I expect whoever plays harder to win. I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Hopefully Game 5’s embarrassment remains fresh in everyone’s mind because the intensity level with only increase now that both teams are facing elimination and the Pacers can’t afford even a brief stretch that looks anything like what they put on the floor in their blowout loss. While the Pacers should be optimistic about their future, getting to the point where you are one win away from the conference finals isn’t easy to do. This is an important opportunity that the young Pacers can’t take for granted.
“We needed to do better in the aggression department,” said Rick Carlisle. “… Game 5 in New York was—I would have to say—our lowest aggression game of the entire playoffs. We didn’t have a very fun film session yesterday watching it. But you go through these ups and downs and young teams are going to grow. We’ll find out how much on Sunday.”
While the Knicks are dealing with their litany of injuries, they may get a boost with OG Anunoby possibly returning as he’s listed as questionable with his hamstring strain. With both him and Hart (abdominal strain) both possibly playing through injuries, the Pacers pace becomes even more crucial and they can’t do that unless they rebound the ball.
“I think coach just challenged our effort,” Haliburton said. “I think that was the biggest thing. We had some bone-headed things happen offensively, turnovers but I think when you go back and look at Game 5, the majority of everything that added up was rebounding the basketball. A lot of their points were off second-chance, and they kept rebounding the ball and that didn’t allow us to play in transition so that affected our offense, too, at the same time.”
Game 6 Player Observations and Grades:
Pascal Siakam (A) would not be denied. Siakam was ultra-aggressive in fighting for post position with the Knicks playing undersized and dominated in the paint all game, a big reason why the Pacers outscored the Knicks 62-38 in the paint. He was 11 for 21 with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists. His percentages would have looked better if they called a few fouls early on in the game but Siakam never stopped attacking.
“When they put a smaller guy on him, we need him to do what he does and attack the paint, be a beast down low,” Nesmith said. “It’s hard to guard, it puts pressure on their defense. And when he has it going, it makes it easier for kick outs and sprays.”
“He didn’t force anything. He just kind of let the game come to him,” McConnell said of Siakam. “He’s just a special player. When we traded for him, it was I think for moments like he’s had here, going to get a bucket when we really need it and just bringing a different dynamic to this team. He’s been incredible.”
Don’t be fooled by the similar point totals from Tyrese Haliburton (B+) in the last two games. The difference in aggression and not letting himself become a bystander in the offense despite being face-guarded couldn’t have been more different. He finished with 15 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and a pair of blocks in the game and repeatedly found timely buckets for the offense including step-back 3s and a mid-range jumper over McBride. His defense was much better than in the first half of the previous game as well.
“He’s changed things for the better for this franchise and for this city,” said McConnell of Haliburton. “When you’ve got a guy who’s your franchise guy that really gets people involved and that’s his main objective is to get people going and shoot when he’s open, it’s easy for everyone to rally around a guy like that.”
Myles Turner (A) stepped up in a big way on the glass as his focus on boxing out Isaiah Hartenstein was crucial to the team turning things around with rebounding. While the Knicks center still got some, it was much more reasonable than him getting every single offensive board like in the previous game. He didn’t do it alone or course as the team has to gang rebound to be successful but he also made the his own dent on the offensive glass with a tip dunk and more.
“Game 5 was an embarrassment I think on all fronts from all of us. We just made a concerted effort — credit to Myles,” said McConnell, “and the bigs and just the entire group of coming together and being mature about it and knowing what we had to fix and going out there and fixing it.”
Turner finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks plus a pair of poster-worthy dunks, including one drive to the rim over Hartenstein and another where he was gliding through the air on a well-timed cut to receive the pass from Siakam.
Andrew Nembhard (A) looks extra confident in his 3-pointer since hitting the game winner earlier in the series, especially from that wing. He went 3 of 4 from deep in this game and repeatedly attacked the basket with aggression. His secondary playmaking has been invaluable all playoffs with how much attention that Haliburton is receiving. He finished with 15 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.
He got a bizarre technical foul at the end of the first half where Donte DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson seemed to be working in tandem to get him one. Brunson stepped on Nembhard’s foot as he was standing above the baseline, stalling as his team set up for the baseline out of bounds play. Nembhard pushed him off and then the two seemed to be talking a bit before the referee seemed to warn Nembhard to knock it off. Enter DiVincenzo to immediately insert his whole body into Nembhard and flop around on the ensuing in-bounds pass before the buzzer expired. Brunson was calling the tech seemingly in sync with the ref on the play, rejoicing for how well they worked the officials for a point to start the second half.
The Knicks did made a quick 8-0 run to cut the Pacers lead to five thanks partially to this play but Indiana answered back immediately with a pair of 3-pointers including one by Nembhard and one by Haliburton after a 50/50 loose ball that earned a second chance opportunity as they kept the Knicks at arm’s length the remainder of the game.
TJ McConnell (A) is a “rockstar” according to Siakam and it’s hard to disagree. McConnell called himself a f***ing dog after one of his made crucial baskets and takes to the rim and he’s also correct about himself.
You can’t say enough about the energy and effort he brings to the floor every game and he bounced back in a big way with 15 points and 4 assists in only 16 minutes. Rockstar, dog, heart and soul of the Pacers. He had one incredible play where he rebounded an airball and threw in a reverse layup while still in the air to beat the shot clock that was one of the plays of the game.
Aaron Nesmith (B+) hounded Brunson all game but did an especially good job in the first half as he scored just 5 points on 13 shot attempts. Brunson got it going in the second half and found a rhythm again but Nesmith didn’t let anything be easy which is all you can ask from him. Nesmith still can’t buy a 3-pointer in the playoffs as he went 0 for 4 but he made all four of his 2-point attempts, had three offensive rebounds, and added four assists.
Obi Toppin (A) did what Obi Toppin does. Highlight slams including multiple dunks with the left hand, he threw one in over Hartenstein that was insane. He resisted the temptation to go between the legs on another dunk in the first half. He finished with 4 blocks, 1 3-pointer, and 1 missed shot in 6 attempts overall for 11 points.
Isaiah Jackson (A-) did exactly what you want an energy big off the bench to do. He finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks. One of his buckets was scored with four Knicks surrounding him in the paint as he fought through a foul. He also contributed multiple extra possessions in the second half by drawing consecutive fouls as he fought for offensive rebounds. It’s been a very solid series for I-Jax.
Ben Sheppard (B+) was quiet in the box score but did well on Brunson at times and forced him to use his right hand and shifted him towards where the help would be. He contributed on the glass with four rebounds and added 4 points.
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